Diamond could take Atlas Mara private

Robert Diamond. File picture: Reuters

Robert Diamond. File picture: Reuters

Published Jan 18, 2017

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London - Bob Diamond, co-founder of Atlas Mara, is weighing

options including taking the sub-Saharan African bank acquirer private, people

with knowledge of the plan said.

One option being considered

is to find an investor or private-equity vehicle to back such a move, one of

the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. A

merger with another financial institution with a presence in Africa

is also being weighed, the people said, adding that discussions are at a very

early stage and no final decision has been made. A spokesman for Atlas Mara declined

to comment.

Diamond, a former Barclays CEO,

is looking for ways to revive confidence in Atlas Mara, which has lost about 80

percent of its value since selling shares to the public more than three years

ago to buy up stakes in African banks. The company has a current market value

of about $153 million. Its biggest asset, a stake of more than 31 percent in

Union Bank of Nigeria,

has exposed Atlas Mara to growing bad debts and a currency devaluation, which

may complicate a transaction.

Atlas Mara began a

cost-cutting exercise in 2016 as expenses engulfed income and threatened its

ability to grow by acquisition. With operations in seven African countries, the

firm needs five to seven years to build its business on the continent, Diamond

said in an interview in September.

Read also:  Currency hits Diamond's Atlas Mara

It comes as Abraaj Group,

the private-equity firm that invests across emerging markets, said on Tuesday

that it’s interested in buying a stake in Barclays’s South African business.

Other investor groups have also expressed an interest in building a stake in

the business. Public Investment Corporporation, the South African administrator

of the bulk of the government’s pension-fund money, was looking to form a group

made up of black shareholders to buy a stake, while Diamond had also publicly

expressed interest.

Atlas Mara gained as much as

4.6 percent in London trading and was up 2.3

percent to $2.25 at 11:05 a.m. in London

trading.

BLOOMBERG

 

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